Tomas Crowder has done background work using action sports like surfing and skateboarding to help underprivileged youth worldwide. In Puerto Rico, he worked with Red Bull to convert an area used for dumping garbage into a skate pool for kids in the troubled neighborhood of La Perla. In Cuba, he convinced the Minister of Sport to allow the development of the country's first action sports program, organizing the historic first skate event in Havana in 2004 and various music and graffiti events to expose Cuban youth to urban culture. His social projects use action sports and music to help youth in need while also promoting cultural exchange.

1. ACTION SPORTS, MUSIC & ART AS A WAY TO HELP THE YOUTH WORLDWIDE
Action Sports, Music & Art are changing & saving lives.
Practicing the Action Sports lifestyle as well as expresing the music & art that emanates from this lifestyles can
make a great difference in nowadays troubled Youth, be in the States, Cuba, China or anywhere else.
Regardless your living environment or social position, kids/youngster who learn our action sports lifestyles are
able to experience freedom from the day to day problems and regain self esteem, among many other cool
benefits for body and mind.
If action sports, music & art helped us in dealing with modern world problems and made a big difference for
ourselves + our Youth, what are we all really giving back?
Objective here is to share & show my social work towards this common mentioned direction, in many different
countries to inspire kids/people on a worldwide level.
Tomas Crowder, author of this presentation (and baldest
guy in pic), in Havana, Cuba, with local and Puerto Rican
skaters invited

2. 08
D d GERAL DOMINGO, 3 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2006 G
O DIA
TEMA s ESPERANÇA
Ao conhecer o projeto desenvolvido por um surfista com crianças da Rocinha, o cantor Jack Johnson, também adepto do
esporte aquático, se apaixonou pela idéia. No dia seguinte ao show que fez no Rio, levou toda a garotada para uma tarde de
BACKGROUND WORK OF TOMAS CROWDER: ‘bagunça’ em seu quarto no Copacabana Palace, hotel de luxo em que ficou hospedado. E também fez doação de US$ 10 mil
“SURFING FAVELA” DOCUMENTARY PROJECT (2006) PROJETO DA ROCINHA s AJUDA QUE VEM DE LONGE
“Surfing Favela” is a documentary shot inside the biggest Favela
(slum in Portuguese) in Latin America, during a war between drug- ONDA DE SOLIDARIEDADE
dealing lords. It helped change the way people see the surfing lifestyle Além de receber carinho e dinheiro de cantor havaiano, pequenos surfistas da favela e seu instrutor, Bocão, viraram tema
de filme argentino rodado no Rio. Neste fim de semana, atleta da escolinha vai disputar campeonato. POR RICARDO CALAZANS
& showed the other side of surfing & how it can save lives + help those
E
FPEDRO MONTEIRO/SURFRIDER.ORG.BR
m sua passagem pe-
lo Rio de Janeiro, o
in needs. It was premiered in Sundance/X-Dance Film Festival, bought
cantor e surfista ha-
vaiano Jack Johnson fez
mais do que cantar suas mú-
by Nat Geo INT & won many film festivals...
sicas tranqüilas para uma
multidão de cariocas na Pra-
ça da Apoteose, em 8 de
Most important, it did help the kids since Mr Jack Johnson ended up
abril. No dia seguinte, um
domingo como hoje, o ‘an-
tiastro’ conheceu os jovens
donating 10K to this social project & a NGO was created.
alunos da escolinha de surfe
que José Ricardo Ramos, o
Bocão, mantém na Rocinha.
O fotógrafo Pedro Montei-
ro acompanhou — e fotogra-
fou — toda a história. “A
(ONG) Surfrider Founda-
tion levou o Bocão para co-
nhecer o JJ no dia do show e
ele gostou do trabalho feito
com a molecada de lá”, con-
ta. “No dia seguinte, JJ con-
vidou os garotos para conhe-
cê-lo, lá no Copacabana Pala-
ce.” No encontro, JJ aprovei-
tou para dar seus ‘toques
zen-surfistas’ aos pequenos
Documentário
filmado em duas
favelas do Rio
tem comovido
público em
Buenos Aires Garotada da escolinha de surfe da Rocinha fez faixa de agradecimento ao cantor. O havaiano doou R$ 10 mil ao projeto que cuida de 24 crianças
aprendizes da Rocinha. “Ja- vela’. Filmado há um ano e só na Argentina, mas em to- está globalizada. “Temos da a preservar a pureza das s CANTE COM JJ
ck disse a eles que tudo em meio na comunidade e no do o mundo”, explica Nata- problemas parecidos”, diz crianças num ambiente que
sua vida foi difícil e que ele Morro do Cantagalo (Ipane- lia Bacalini, uma das direto- Natalia. Já a platéia argenti- pode ser muito hostil”, con-
d Em suas músicas, Jack
sempre precisou correr mui- ma), conta o dia a dia dos jo- ras do documentário, ao la- na, segundo ela, encantou- ta ela. Em abril, Bocão viaja-
to atrás do que sonhou. Era Johnson procura passar men-
vens que escapam da margi- do de Max Ezzaoui. se com o filme. “As favelas rá para Cuba, num festival
sagens de esperança, como
essa a lição que ele gostaria nalidade e da violência em No Rio, em contato com do Brasil são uma espécie de onde o filme será exibido.
nos sucessos ‘Upside Down’
de deixar para os garotos”, cima de pranchas. “Somos as favelas, os argentinos mistério. E as pessoas vi- Sua escolinha da paz ainda
e ‘Better Together’
.
lembra Pedro. interessados pelo social, não comprovaram que a miséria bram ao ver que o surfe aju- vai rodar o mundo. f
Após ter contato com o
UPSIDE DOWN
trabalho desenvolvido com
as crianças da favela de São INFÂNCIA NA FAVELA s EM BUSCA DE EQUILÍBRIO Who's to say what's impossi-
ble?
Conrado, o cantor doou US$ SEVERINO SILVA/30.9.2005 ISABELA KASSOW
Well they forgot this world
10 mil para o projeto de Bo-
keeps spinning
cão. O dinheiro beneficiou
And with each new day I can
os 24 alunos. Entre eles C.,
feel a change in everything
de 9 anos, que em setembro
do ano passado foi flagrado
BETTER TOGETHER
em foto de O DIA enquan-
Love is the answer
to ‘brincava de guerra’ con-
At least for most of the ques-
tra policiais, em cima de um
tions in my heart ,
carro blindado da Polícia Ci-
Like why are we here? And
vil. O menino, que tinha sido
where do we go?
apelidado por outros garo-
And how come it's so hard?
tos de ‘Chefinho’, devido à
It's not always easy,
sua postura de liderança ao
And sometimes life can be
perambular pelas ruas da fa-
deceiving,
vela esmolando, hoje prefe-
I'll tell you one thing, its
re dropar ondas em São Con-
always better when we're to-
rado, como O DIA noticiou
gether
há uma semana. E deve isso,
indiretamente, a JJ.
d Abaixo, traduções das
Algum tempo depois de
duas letras.
conhecer o cantor, a garota-
da da escolinha decidiu agra-
UPSIDE DOWN
decer a generosidade e con-
Quem vai dizer o que é im-
feccionou uma faixa sim-
possível?
ples, que foi parar nas pági-
Bem, eles esqueceram que
nas de uma publicação fran- Chefinho foi flagrado em cima de carro blindado da polícia, mas, meses depois, é sobre prancha que se equilibra o mundo continua girando
cesa, com os dizeres “Obriga-
E a cada novo dia eu posso
do, Jack!”. Mais bem estrutu-
rada, a escolinha está partici- CRIANÇA PASSOU A ESTUDAR E PRATICAR ESPORTE sentir uma mudança
em tudo
pando, neste fim de semana,
da terceira e última etapa do
d Há pouco mais de um da comunidade, era sempre reencontrou, ainda entre- Hoje, C. está finalmente BETTER TOGETHER
Circuito Estadual, na Praia
ano, o menino C. vivia sol- seguido como um líder. gue à própria sorte nas matriculado na classe de O amor é a resposta
da Barra da Tijuca, em fren-
2
to pelas vielas da Rocinha, Em setembro do ano pas- ruas. Meses depois, Vania alfabetização de uma esco- Ao menos para maioria das
te ao Hotel Sheraton. Filho
dormia em caixotes, men- sado, C. foi fotografado por Maria Tavares, 50 anos, la próxima. Ainda traumati- perguntas no meu coração
de Bocão, Ricardo da Silva
Ramos, 12 anos, é o represen- digava quentinhas aos O DIA em cima de um mãe de dois filhos, avó de zado pelos anos entregues Como por que estamos
PMs e brincava de ‘solda- veículo blindado da Coorde- dois netos, R$ 800 de orça- à própria sorte, ele conti- aqui? E onde nós vamos?
tante do projeto na catego-
do do tráfico’ durante as nadoria de Recursos Espe- mento, resolveu ajudar o ga- nua desconfiado e arredio. E por que é tão difícil?
ria grommets.
incursões policiais à fave- ciais (Core) da Polícia Civil. roto. Levou-o para casa e, Mas quando sobe na pran- Nem sempre é fácil, e às ve-
Da Favela da Rocinha, a
la. Não sabia ler nem escre- Enquanto os policiais caça- com o consentimento da cha e encara o mar, recu- zes a vida pode ser
escolinha começa agora a ga-
ver o nome, mas atendia vam traficantes, o menino mãe verdadeira, que tam- pera parte de sua infância. decepcionante.
nhar fama internacional.
prontamente ao apelido se divertia fingindo atirar bém mora na Rocinha mas Sorri e volta a ser o que to- Vou te dizer uma coisa, é
Em outubro, estreou em
Buenos Aires, na Argentina, de ‘Chefinho’: nas brinca- nos agentes. Em março des- não tem condições de criá- da criança deve ser: ape- sempre melhor quando esta-

3. CASE STUDY 2: LA PERLA SKATE/SOCIAL PROJECT - PUERTO RICO
LA PERLA, PUERTO RICO`S OLDEST SLUM & Tomas Crowder.
Latin American Youth is mostly in Third World Economic classification. Tomas
being Argentinian knows this from the inside perspective. Having lived and
worked in action sports/social related matters for the last 10 years, in more than 9
countries, he had the chance to convince Red Bull to be the first person in the
region to mix the concepts of social work with sports marketing activities.
La Perla it´s the first & most
violent neighborhood in Old
San Juan City, Puerto Rico´s
main Capital. In more than a
hundred fifty years this place
was kept separated from its
really close neighbor, the
more developed old San Juan,
by fortified walls and plenty of
policemen in the entrance of
this small ghetto.
Dana & Tomas's idea was simply to recycle the place in the neighborhood were
people threw their garbage, where stolen cars were dismounted & drugs sold to
kids into a…(cont. next page)

4. …a skate pool to act as a small swimming
& skate pool for the kids to enjoy & get 1
away a little bit from day to day life
struggle in the slum…
2
3

5. ...kids loved it and quickly got into
skating. The two local skaters involved
taught them the basics and a
international demo was planned only for
the unpriviledged local kids, to teach
them what can be accomplished & done
if we all work together…

6. Tomas, Dana & Red Bull invited Sandro Dias, who understand
about unprivileged kids, for the surprise sk8 Demo for local kids.
Later on, this unusal place caused so much noise that top youth
brands like Quiksilver did part of his Int. sk8 ad campaign in our
bowl

7. IT WAS ALSO BIGGEST COVERAGE EVER IN PUERTO RICO OF A RB EVENT
...MEDIA CONFIRMED THIS
WAS AN EVENT DONE
WOTH PASSION, OUTSIDE
THE MOLD, WHO TRULY
BROUGHT ATTENTION TO
A TROUBLED AREA &
OFFERED A CONCRETE
ALTERNATIVE TO KIDS.
7

8. …Once the Puerto Rico´s challenge was done as well, Tomas
aimed for a country stepped in time, CUBA.
Havana, Cuba. 2004.

9. Cuba is, for better or worst, the most ostracized
country in the world. It was said that the long time
Trading Embargo with the USA & Europe will
never allow the development of the Action Sports
& its free spirit type of lifestyle…
Also it was told to me before visiting the island
that Fidel Castro's Sport Ministers will never allow
such an apparent “capitalistic” free spirit lifestyle
to be embraced by the Cuban youth…
The closest idea
of skating or
surfing in
Havana, right?...

10. ...WRONG!
Tomas Crowder convinced
Alberto Juantorenas, Cuban
Minister of Sport & Two Times
Olympic Gold Medal, to skate
(shown here in the photo) &
allowed him to develop a historic
3 years long Action Sport, Music
& Culture Program to be
developed for the Cuban Youth
through skate, surf, bmx, other
actions sports & music events…
The Sport Minister in
Cuba now skates!
Historic first Skate Event
ever in Havana, Cuba,
2004.

11. In Cuba you cannot advertise anywhere any event and we basically depended on word of
mouth between the local Youth for the success of the event and program…Passion and
willingness to learn about this truly free lifestyle made a huge event success. More than
3000 persons witnessed the start of another cuban revolution!
We also donated new boards…

12. The Action Sports program included the other faces of
the youth urban revolution: a series of Music & Graffiti
events in Cuba that served to expose the talent of the
local youth for the first time...
Doble Filo + Os Gemeos Graffiti Project
First Hip Hop Free Style Battle
First Youth Music Festival
12

13. ...More Music & Graffiti events
done/ co produced with our
partners in Cuba 2004/2008...
La Comuna Project - Carlos Varela
Audioslave in
Sting visit to Cuba historic Havanna
concert MUSIC ACADEMY CUBA
Film festival
Rock Hip Hop Electronic
Art + Cinema +
Music + Graffiti…

14. In the last 3 years of working in the Cuban skate program, many cool
stories did happened. One of the most relevant is about Marcel's mom
struggle. Marcel is an autistic kid who had never left his home and was
always medicated. But that changed when he once heard the construction
of a never before seen skate ramp in Cuba. He once pointed the ramp to
his mom, asked for a skate and started skating. In less than 8 months, he
was a completely changed kid and even won a medal in a skate
competition. In his mom´s words: The skate gave Marcel what no other
traditional medicine could give and helped positively transform his live.
We are incorporating this positive struggle in our documentary project to
inspire even more people...!
Marcel and his mom Marcel is a positive example of how much we can help the
kids through the skate/action sport lifestyle!

15. Ok. In any “regular” country, the skate project will
have keep growing and everyone lived together
happily ever after right?...
WRONG!. The only Mini ramp for Marcel and the rest of
the Cuban kids to practice (and get better) was
destroyed. A combination of a lack of knowledge in
how to deal with the ramp from authorities and the
power of the Katrina Hurricane broke the only ramp
available in Cuba in half!. The only foreign company
backing up my work changed his manager, who
backed full support to skate activities. Donated skates
got broken and things couldn’t look worse...
Also, someone inside the Government thought that I
was promoting a capitalistic activity…that this was
basically a Californian/US lifestyle activity prohibited &
should be erased from Cuba…AFTER SOME
THINKING, MY ANSWER TO THEM WAS TO…

16. …TAKE THE RECREATIONAL SPORT
MINISTER TO ANOTHER FORMER
COMMUNIST COUNTRY LIKE CHINA (!), GET
HIM IN A MEETING WITH CHINA`S VICE MINISTER
OF SPORT + SHANGAI´S ACTION SPORTS
ASSOCIATION . THEY THEN EXPLAINED THE
CUBAN MINISTER WHY THEY INVESTED BIG TIME
IN THE FUTURE OF YOUTH THROUGH THE
MAKING OF THE BIGGEST SKATEPARK IN THE
WORLD AT THE TIME IN SHANGHA…After this visit, Meeting John Dai, President of the
Shanghai Extreme Sports Association.
Cuban gov. understood better & I got permission
again to keep working for the skate & action sports
scene in Cuba!
From L.t.R: Cuban Recreational Minister, Mr. Bonilla, Vice-
Minister of Sports in China, Mr. Wu & Mr. Tomas Crowder,
visiting Shanghai´s biggest world skatepark
Cuban Minister in Shanghai, China.

17. WITH THE RENOVATED VISION AFTER TAKING CUBAN MINISTER TO CHINA I
STARTED “THE OTHER CHE” SKATE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT (BEING FILMED)
IN A NUTSHELL: In 1959, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara commanded one of the world's most known revolutions
in Cuba. The Cuban Youth was then, for better or worse, ostracized for the last 5 decades of what was happening in
the outside world…On the 50th anniversary of this historic moment, our documentary will tell the unknown story of
another ongoing cuban revolution, which is also commanded by a person called Che, but this time the weapons
has been changed for skates & its urban culture: tattoo art, hip hop music and street art.
SCENE SHOT TAKEN FROM THE CUBAN REVOLUTION SQUARE PARADE

18. MEDIA COVERAGE - PRESENT TIME
The Other Che Documentary is a groundbreaking project that already gathered international coverage. And its halfway its
completion and achivements. For the first time after 50 years of Revolution, we will have a priviledged, inside view of whats going
on in the streets of forbidden Cuba; as well as experiment firsthand how our action sports lifestyle is changing minds and uniting
apparent enemies. It´s no wonder this interest/coverage will be on the raise since we are simply doing what we love & understand,
making history being the first ones to brake the blockade and help cuban/us worldwide youth.
As seen in the RedBulletin, Red Bull´s Int. mag,
October 09, 6 pages coverage, 3.5 Millon Copies
Dist worldwide. First aumented reality action
sport mag. In the UK was distributed inside
“The Independent” Newspaper all over the
country as well as in more than 134 countries...
18

19. MORE INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE OF SKATE PROJECT IN CUBA

20. MORE MEDIA COVERAGE:
As seen in REDBULLSKATEBOARDING.COM internet site
ESPN

21. Our ongoing Cuba/US Skate/youth film project
was elected to be premiered in the first
Redbulletin Ipad version, now starting to reach
millons of persons & sharing attention with the
likes of 50 Cent, Lady Gaga & other youth
celebs...you can download it @ below url:
h#p://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Red-­‐Bulle?n-­‐iPad/001242991025466
21

22. REGARDLESS USA, LATIN AMERICA, CHINA OR CUBA, ACTION SPORTS
LIFESTYLE IS THE FUTURE & BRING KIDS TOGETHER!
JOIN US ON THE NEXT YOUTH REVOLUTION...
ALL THE SUPPORT IS NEEDED!, CONTACT US AT:
INFO@WUWEIFILMS.COM
… THANKS FOR READING!
Tomas Crowder.
To
Chang,
Morris,
Dapena,
Reinier,
Ruggiero,
Boly
&
the
rest
of
the
amazing
photographers
that
are
collaborating
&
I´m
surely
forgetting,
many
thanks!